Bottled beverage cooling device



March 15, 1949.

Filed June 5, 1944 L. A. PHILIPP BOTTLED BEVERAGE COOLING DEVICE 5 Sheets- Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. L awrence A. Pb i//;0,0

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BOTTLED BEVERAGE COOLING DEVICE Filed June 5, 1944' s Sheets-Sheet s E a w a ,4:

IN V EN TOR.

Law fence A. Phi/ipp BY Arv hey Patented Mar. 15, 1949 BOTTLED BEVERAGE COOLING DEVICE Lawrence A. Philipp, Detroit, Micln, assignor to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Maryland Application June 5, 1944, Serial No. 538,791

. 6 Claims.

1 This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to the type used for cooling bottled beverages.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide surface which substantially follows the contour of the bottled goods and which are refrigerated by volatile refrigerant in thermal contact withthe exterior of said surface whereby said beverages are quickly cooled by conduction.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved refrigerant evaporating element.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front view of the apparatus embodying features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical side view of the apparatus, partly broken away;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; v

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of .Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front view, partly broken away, showing a modified form of apparatus embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side view in cross section of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 11 is a bottom view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7.

In accordance with my invention bottled beverages are quickly cooled without the aid of a liquid contacting such bottled beverages or by forced circulation of air thereover. This is accomplished in one form by the use of aluminum or copper tubes horizontally positioned in a cabinet with the tubes being but slightly larger than the bottles containing the beverages. Since bottled beverages are cylindrical in shape the tubes substantially follow the curvature or contour of the bottles. This provides a good contacting surface for the bottles and allows good conduction therebetween. The tubes are refrigerated by a refrigerant evaporating element in the form of a serpentine coil with the coil arranged so that two straight runs thereof are secured to the top of a tube and the same runs are secured to the bottom of the tubes vertically positioned thereabove. Thus the tubes are refrigerated above and below. This evaporating element is secured to the exterior Walls of the tubes and because of their cylindrical formation no space is lost and the tubes may be placed one above the other and in contact with each other, the refrigerant evaporating element being secured to the tubes adjacent the contacting points of the tubes. Another form is to provide a series of refrigerated troughs with one trough being located immediately above the other. The troughs are semi-circular in cross section and slightly larger than the. bottles placed therein to .provide a good contact between the trough and positioned. Since the bottles are not of great length such bottles do not require a cabinet of great depth. In practice I have found that a standard household refrigerator is of suflicient depth and lends itself readily for such purpose.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, I have illustratively disclosed my improved refrigerating apparatus as installed in through a conduit 32 into the rear lower portion of the insulated cabinet thereabove. As usual the compressor compartment is partially open and vented to permit the surrounding air to circulate freely therethrough, and to provide for convenient access to the unit. The intake port of the compressor unit 26 is connected through a conduit '34 extending up along the back of the insulated cabinet 20 into the rear of the upper portion of the enclosed space 24 for drawing oil the refrigerant vapor from an accumulator 35 of my improved refrigerating apparatus installed therein.

In accordance with my invention, bottled beverages are quickly cooled without the aid of a liquid contacting the beverage containers and without the necessity of forced circulation of air thereover. This is accomplished by providing a plurality of bottle support members 36 of good thermal conductive material each having a surface suitably conformed for receiving bottles 38 in close thermal coupled relation therewith for rapidly conducting heat therefrom. The members 36 are supported and mounted in a compact assembly. A refrigerant conduit means 40 is united thereto and conducts heat from the bottle support members. represented in Figs. 1, 2 and 3and shown in more detail in Figs. 4 and 5, a very compact and eflicient :ructure is provided for this purpose by making the bottle support members 36 of suitable lengths of metallic tubing of a radius slightly greater than the radius of curvature of the bottles to be cooled therein.

The bottle receiving tubes or sleeves 36 are disposed snugly contacting in rows aligned vertically and horizontally and are mounted and secured into a. rigid unitary structure. The refrigerant conduit 40 passes through the structure in a serpentine or reversely bent arrangement such as to provide a plurality of loops each having two horizontally spaced straight runs 40 extending along on opposite sides of the line of contact between each vertically aligned pair of bottle receiving tubes 36; The two straight runs 40' of each loop of the refrigerant conduit are secured to the top of the under tube 36 andalso to the bottom of In the form of my invention detail in Figs. 7, 8, 9, l0, and 11. A plurality of such sets of arcuate troughs are provided and these are mounted horizontally and in vertically spaced relation, similarly to the shelves in a cabinet, and with the respective arcuate troughs 42 of the various sets in vertical alignment. As shown particularly in Fig. 9, the side walls between each pair'of side-by-side troughs are suitably formed to provide complementary flutes 44 for receiving a straight run 46' of a refrigerant conduit 46 extending therethrough.

7 As shown in Fig. 8, the conduit 46 is reversely bent in a vertical plane to provide vertically spaced pairs of straight runs 46', the lower one of each pair passing through the flutes 44 between the side walls of two adjacent troughs. The uppermost one of each pair of straight runs 46 rests in a socket groove 48 in top of the fold intermediate two troughs, as may be seen in Figs. 7, 8, and 9. The refrigerant conduit 48 is provided with suificient reversely bent straight runs 46' in a vertical plane to support and cool all the plurality of sets of bottle receiving troughs 42 which may be stacked in vertically spaced relation. By means of horizontal cross overs or conduit portions 46", which may be seen in Figs. 7, l0 and 11, the conduit continues over into'the vertical plane between the adjacent pair of side-by-side troughs 42 and a series of reverse bends provides a series of straight runs 46' in said vertical plane for providing support and conductive contact for cooling between said bottle supporting troughs 42. This connection and serpentine bending of the refrigerant conduit 46 is continued through a plurality of side-by-side vertical planes untilsupport and conductive connection has been provided between all the pairs of side-by-side disposed troughs 42, as may be seen in Fig. 7 andother views, where the arrows serve to indicate the fiow of refrigerant, or coolin liquid or fluid therethrough.

Fig. 6 shows how the side walls of the insulated cabinet 20 may be provided with shelf flanges or the tube 36 above, asby soldering or welding, to

provide a good thermal conductive joint of suit-,

able strength. The heatfrom an inserted bottle is very efiiciently and quickly conducted away from above and below.

The bottle support members 36 and the refrigerant conduit 40 may be made of any suitable metal but good thermal conductive metals such as aluminum or copper are preferable, in accordance with usual practice in refrigeration apparatus, and this structure is very conveniently built and extended to the suitable dimensions of width and height to suit the size of the storage space in the various insulated cabinets to be utilized. If desired a suitable stop (not shown) may be inserted into the rear of each tube to limit the insertion of the bottles.

Fig. 6 is an elevationalview of .a cabinet 20,

partially broken away and showing another emin aside-by-side set or series, as shown in more brackets 50 for receiving and supportin the end of each set of troughs 42. The outer end of each outside trough 42 is provided with a flat laterally projecting flange strip 52 for resting upon a corresponding shelf flange 50 provided on the adjacent inside side wall of the enclosing insulated cabinet 20, as may be seen in Fig. 6, and in more detailin-Figs. 7 and 9. If desired, the entire 7 assemblage of the serpentine refrigerant conduit 46and the'series of vertically spaced sets of sideby-side troughs .42 may be firmly united, as by soldering, or in any suitable manner for providing a good conductive joint of sufllcient strength.

In both forms of my invention, conduction is mainly utilized for cooling. My improved structure is advantageous for cooling bottled beverages and similar purposes irrespective of the particular refrigerant which may flow through the refrigerant conduit for absorbing heat and which might be a cold brine or other liquid, or a volatile refrigerant, as will be readily understood. A cabinet of rather shallow depth is sufficient for this purpose, as beverage bottles are not of great length, and in practice Ihave found that the usual household refrigerator cabinets serve very well for this purpose; In either form, my structures are read- -ily made up to dimensions of height and width suitable for the particular cabinets to be utilized.

It is apparent that within the scope of my invention modifications and different arrangements may be made other than herein disclosed, and thepresent disclosure is illustrative'merely, the invention comprehending variations thereof.

I claim:

1. A bottled beverage cooling device comprising, a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally positioned sleeves adapted to receive the bottled beverages, said sleeves being in direct contact with each other throughout their length, and a single refrigerant evaporating conduit secured longitudinally in direct contact with the exterior surfaces of said sleeves.

2. A bottled beverage cooling device comprising. a plurality of horizontally positioned sleeves adapted to receive the bottled beverages, said sleeves being throughout their length in direct contact with each other in vertical alignment. and a single refrigerant evaporating conduit secured in direct contact with said sleeves throughout their length and engaging the exterior of an upper sleeve adjacent the bottom thereof and engaging the exterior of a contacting sleeve adjacent the upper part thereof.

3. A bottled beverage cooling device comprising, a plurality of vertically spaced horizontally positioned sleeves adapted to receive the bottled beverages, said sleeves being in direct contact with each other throughout their length, and a single refrigerant evaporating conduit having two straight runs secured in spaced apart relation and extending axially along in direct contact with the exterior surfaces of each of said sleeves.

4. Apparatus for cooling bottled beverages comprising, a plurality of metallic tubes of a diameter slightly greater than the diameters of cylindrical containers to be cooled, said tubes being disposed in a compact contacting relation aligned in vertical and horizontal rows. and a serpentine or reversely bent refrigerant conduit .secured rigidly to and between the external surfaces of said tubes in such a manner as to provide a pair of straight portions running axially along and between each tube and each other vertically adjacent tube on opposite sides of the line of contact between each such pair of tubes, for securing and cooling said tubes together in an intimate thermally coupled assemblage which is a compact and rigid unitary structure.

5. A bottled beverage'cooling device comprising, three tubes including a central tube and an outer tube in contact therewith throughout its length and a second outer tube in contact with said central tube throughout its length, and a refrigerant conduit having a straight portion in contact with said first named outer tube and said central tube and a straight portion in contact with said second named outer tube and said central tube with said straight portions extending longitudinally of said tubes.

6. A bottled beverage cooling device comprising, two tubes in contact with each other throughout substantially their lengths and a refrigerant conduit extending longitudinally throughout the length of said tubes and being secured to each of said tubes.

LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 965,307 Lane July 26, 1910 1,975,046 Larkin Sept. 25, 1934 2,180,237 Henderson Nov. 14, 1939 

